Improvement in sewing-machines



r SheetsSheet 2. T. S. WELLS.

Sewing Machine. No. 17,400.- Patented May 26. 1857.

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UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

THOS. S. ELLS, OF UTICA, NEV YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 17.400, dated May 26,1857'.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that THOMAS S. Warns, of Utica,in the county of Oneida and State of New York, have invented certain newand use ful Improvements in Sewing-Machines; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section of a machinewith my improvements, taken in a direction transverse to the line ofsewing. Fig. 2 is a vertical section at right angles to- Fig. 1 in theline as m. Fig. 3 is a plan of the same with the top rail of the framingomitted. Fig. 4 is a plan of the device which operates, in combi nationwith the needle, to make the stitches. Fig. 5 is a front view of thefeeding apparatus. Fig. 6 represents the needle on a larger scale thanthe other figures. Fig. 7 is a side view of the upper one of the twopairs of nippers by which the needle is operated, and the 0011-trivances for opening them. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a part ofthe contrivance for opening the nippers.

Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

This invention relates to that description of sewing-machine in whichthe sewing is effected by a needle, with. a point at each end, passingentirely through the cloth or other material to be sewed from oppositesides alternately.

It consists in certain means of taking up the slack of the thread, whichprevents it catching or tangling, and admits of a longer needleful ofthread being used than is admitted in machines of the same kind asheretofore constructed.

It also consists in an improvement in the needle, by which facility isafforded for in serting the thread, and at the same time provision ismade for securing the end of the thread therein.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is the bed or table on which the sewing is perforn'ied, supported upona stand, 13.

P is the foot piece,which confines the cloth to the table.

O is the main shaft of the machine, arranged in horizontal bearings andcarrying a bevelwheel, D.

E is an upright shaft arranged in bearings in a rail, F, placedacrossthe bottom of the stand B,and another rail,F, that is supported bytwo pilars, G G, on the top of the table A, and carrying at its lowerend the bevel-wheel D, gearing with the bevel-wheel D, for the purposeof im' parting to it a rotary motion from the main shaft 0. This uprightshaft also carries two cylindrical cams, H H, the former being situatedabove the table for operating the upper pair of needle-nippers, I J, andthe latter below the table for operating the lower pair ofneedle-nippers, I J, said nippers being attached to two cylindricalyokes, K K, which encircle the cams H H closely, but not tightly, andreceive a direct vertical motion therefrom through the agency of groovesbin the peripheries of the said cams, and pins aproj ecting from theinterior of the said yokes into the said grooves. The nippers arearranged opposite each other and prevented from turning on the cams bymeans of guide-posts L L and L L, attached,respectively, to the top andbottom of the table A, which posts serve to guide them in a verticaldirection. The grooves in the two cams are so formed that during onehalf of the revolution of each cam its respective pair of nippers isstationary near the table, and during the other half the nippers movefirstalittle' nearer to the table, then away from it a distance equal tohalf the distance the needle requires to move to pass entirely throughand as far as required clear of the cloth, and then,without remaining atrest, re-

turn to their position near the table. In Fig.

1 the upper nippers are represented in this last-named position and thelower nippers at their greatest distance from the table, the latterhaving taken the needle N from the former after the former had. pushedit half way through the cloth and drawn it entirely through and as fartherefrom as necessary. The movement of each pair of nippers commencesjust as that of the other pair terminates, each pair in turn pushing theneedle half-way through the cloth, and then the other pair instantlytaking hold of it and completing its operation. Just as the movement ofeach pair of nippers to push the needle half-way through the cloth iscompleted, the jaws require to open to liberate the needle, and just asthe movement commences to draw the needle through the cloth they ofcourse require to close.

The construction of andImode of effecting the opening and closing of thejaws will now be described.

The jaws I I are attached rigidly to their respective rings by means ofarms M M, of

which they form parts, and the jaws J J are provided with stems o 0,(see Figs. 1, 8, and

7 standing at right angles to them and fitting to slide in the arms MMof the stationary jaws. I Spiral springsd d are applied within the armsM M to the stems c c in such a manner as to exert a tendency to keep thejaws always closed. Each stem is provided at one side of its extremitywitha stud, e, projecting through' a slot, f, in one side of the arm Mor M, (see Figs. 1, 2, and 7,) and in one of. the guide-posts L L or L Lof each pair of hippers there is fitted a short rocker, g, carrying atone end an arm, h, with a beveled point, which works in a recess, 2', onthe inside of the guide-post, and at its other end an arm, j, outside ofthe guide-post.

To the arm 3 is applied a spring, k, to force it toward the table tohold the arm h against the end of the recess 1' nearest, the table -A.

that is to say, the bottom of the recess in the guide-post L and the topof that in the post I). When either pair of nippers is just aboutterminating its movement toward the table to push the needle through thecloth, its stud 6 comes in contact with the beveled point of itsrespective arm h, which, resting within the recess, becomes rigid andcauses the stud, and with it the movable jaw of the nippers, to moveoutward, thus effecting the opening of the jaws and liberation of theneedle. By the time the jaws arethus opened, the nippers becomestationary,with the stud e resting against the arm h, in which conditionthe upper nippers are represented in Figs.1 and 2. When the movement ofthe nippers commences again,

. ter the stud ehas passed it, the arm h is returned by the action ofthe spring k on the arm j to the end of the recess nearest the table,ready to act upon the stud e again to open the nippers when they havepushed the needle halfway through the cloth again. The needle N is madewith an eye, 01., at the middle of its length,'and with a close slit,'m, extending in both directions from the eye, although-the said slit.needs only to extend in one direction. The

endof the thread on being passed through the eye of this needle requiresto be drawn into the slit to secure it, as shown in Fig. 6, where,

as well as in Figs. 1, 2, and 4, the thread is 7 shown in red color,which can be done withoutthe inconvenient process of forcing open theslit as required in the needle described in the patent of Hezekiah B.Smith, dated J an uary 16, 1856.

Z in Figs. 1, 2, and 4 is the finger by which the thread is drawnthrough the cloth every time the needle is withdrawn on the under sidethereof. This finger is carried by a wheel, 0, on the rotating shaft E.-It is of the form of a lever of the first order, and is attached to saidwheel by a pivot, 0, and its point is generally caused to protrude somedistance outward through a slot in the periphery of the wheel by theaction of a spring, 19, upon its opposite extremity, said spring beingsecured to the wheel. The protruding portion of the finger Zis caused,by the rotation of the wheel 0, with the shaft E, to pass between thepoint of the needle and the table A at the precise moment when theneedle has been withdrawn to the greatest distance from the cloth on theunder side, and,- catching hold of the thread, forms a loop in it, andby its continued revolution draws it through the cloth, doubling it andwinding it upon the periphery of the wheel 0, in the manner representedin Figs. 2 and 4, till the stitch isv drawn tight, when the drag of thethread on the finger lovercomes the force of the spring and allows thefinger to fall back, as shown in red outline in Fig. 4:, far enough forit to slip off. In Fig. 2 the finger is represented as just coming intooperation on the thread, and the thread (which is there representedwound upon-the wheel) is as it has' just been left by the finger intightening up the last completed stitch.

The wheel 0 is inclosed within a case, R*, that is bolted to the bottomof the table A, the

only opening in the said case It being in frontat q, Figs.,.1 and 4,where one is necessary for the needle to pass through, and also to allowthe nippers to come so near to the table that a very long needle willnot be necessary. The wheel is fitted snugly into a slight recess in thebottom of the table A, so that the upper edge of its periphery iscovered for the purpose of preventing the thread slipping over the topof the wheel; and the case is made with a lip, r, to cover the loweredge of the periphery of the wheel to prevent the thread slipping offthe wheel in a downward direction; and, besides these preventive means,the periphery is made slightly concave to encourage the thread towardthe middle for the same purpose. A

sufficient space, s, is left within the case 1%,

outside of the wheel, to permit the revolution of the finger, and thusspace is left wide enough vertically to allow plenty of freedom to themovement of the thread when it is being drawn off the wheel after thefinger has slipped out of it and during the repetition of the stitch. Itwill be readily understood that by taking the slack of the thread onthe' periphery of an inclosed wheel protected from inj ury andmaintainedin such condition or position, it will work freely when being drawnthrough the cloth, besides which it presents an extensive surface overwhich to lay the thread, and thus enables a longer needleful to be usedthan can be used in other machines operating on the same principle. Awheel of siX inches in diameter admits of a needleful of about a yardlongthat is to say, of the length of twice the circumferenceand thatlength can be used without any difficulty.

By a straightforward feedmotion the machine makesa running stitch. Byadouble feed-motion, making a longer movement forward and a shortermovement backward alternately, the back stitch is produced, and by othervariations in the feed other stitches may be effected. R R are two camson. the top of the cams I-I H for operating a double feed-motion, whichI have not considered it necessary to here describe.

I do not claim the invention of a two pointed needle with an eye in thecenter, nor a twopointed needle with a slit or fissure to receive andpinch the thread; nor do I claim the employment of a revolving fingerfor the purpose of drawing the thread through the cloth, or any otherdevice described in the specifications ofHezekiah B. Smith or J. J.Greenough;

but

Vhat I claim as my intention, and desire to secure by Letters Patentis- 1. The employment of a wheel, 0, to carry the finger Z and take upthe slack of the thread 7 SILAS A. OONKEY.

